Cessna 421B lost in icing conditions 3/17

Awful. Ice is no joke.

Also, this caught my eye..
upload_2021-3-21_19-58-42.png

is that true? Does the Aspen completely die if it loses pitot/static. If so.. then what a completely useless system. In the Garmin it just X's out what you lose.
 
Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me.

I had the magnetometer signal to my GRT HXr get wonky and the indication on the EFIS was a descending continuous 60 degree turn to the left.

Fortunately I had a second system on the co-pilot side. And my iPad linked to a Stratus II with the AI display up.
 
(1) Aspen
Wow.. I did not realize all these systems were so connected. In an old school steam gauge plane as long as you have vacuum the attitude indicator should work

(2) WX
yes I would imagine freezing rain and sleet is outside the limitations of most anti and de-ice systems
 
Nobody is immune...

Man that’s unfortunate! :(
 
So there I was...

Doing a wx recce in the working area, kinda nasty, I was leading a 4 ship all solo students. I went out first, and if good enough just call them out and do our thing.

I bust out to the MOA, I’m the only plane from the base even airborn. Advanced students have instrument cards, so this was possible, the t-2s were hard down. We flew a-4s.

Figured it would be easiest, and let’s not get into exactly WHY I decided this was a good idea, don’t worry, I got lots of excuses, to just do a loop to check out the area vertically, which went from about 10 to 20k, about the size of a loop...

Students do loops under the bag, shouldn’t really be a problem. And it wasn’t, but there was this...

Start at 15 k, mil power, roll upside down (all in the goo!) pull to 30 deg nose down, roll out, accelerate to 450, set 3.5 g’s, bottom out about 10 and up we go, you transition to AOA about the time the slats come out, so I adjust my mirrors to watch them, I’m busting through about 120 deg nose up (past vertical) watching the wings, and poof! Whole airplane ices over INSTANTLY. Gone, can’t see a stitch of color, rivet line, nothing, just ice!

Whoa! Uh... hmmm... well... ice usually only lasts 3 or 4 thousand feet, should be out of it soon, as I’m climbing around 10k fpm, a zoom climb admittedly. So just hold what I got... Like I had any other options!!

Poof! Ice all goes away as fast as it showed up. Good me thinks. Float over the top upside down, top out near 20 k, nose coming down, airspeed picking up, hmmm... this is about where the ice went away, POOF! Whole thing ices up again... saw that coming.

About where it showed up the first time, POOF! All gone again. Yay!

Level out, call in weather probably not suitable for ANYTHING!! Go back to the base. Mentioned a little icing here and there... kinda leave out the loop in the goo part...

Got me thinking, if I were at normal rates of climb and such, I’d have likely just fallen out of the sky it accumulated so fast. Who knows?

Kinda wonder if that’s what happened to this guy? I’ve had lots of pitot tubes freeze over, disconcerting but not that big of a deal. No matter, ice is BAD. Causes bad things.

Tools
 
Well ya did a good job! Them puppies were still purring like kittens nearly 20 yrs later!

Tools
 
The comment Tantalum posted is typical internet keyboard bravado. Put that guy in the same situation and then we'll see who's a good pilot.

I built a test cell at NAS Kingsville over a two year period. The Buckeye looked to be built like the proverbial brick sh*thouse, handling decades of abuse from students and still ready for more.
 
Put that guy in the same situation and then we'll see who's a good pilot.
??
Which comment? The Aspen or wx one?

If an AI gives up the ghost because of a lack of pitot/static that's worrisome.. to say the least. There goes the whole "pitch and power" thing we were taught if faced with pitot/static loss

The freezing rain/sleet one.. that's objective. I'm not aware of any anti/de-ice system that is approved for freezing rain

What does that have to do with pilot skills though? Something may have got lost in communication

Sounds like the pilot suddenly found himself in a corner and his equipment abandoned him
 
Awful. Ice is no joke.

is that true? Does the Aspen completely die if it loses pitot/static. If so.. then what a completely useless system. In the Garmin it just X's out what you lose.

I think that comment you read is misleading. If pitot/static issues exist the Aspen EFD1000 would present erroneous speed and altitude just like your basic round dial a/s indicator and altimeter, since they all use the same source. I’m not an Aspen expert, but the unit wouldn’t just completely die. The X outs on an Aspen are designed to display when there are attitude and directional failures.

From the Aspen manual:

“Most light aircraft have only a single pitot and static port available for flight instrument use. As such, the pitot and static lines used by the EFD1000 system are shared with those lines used by the standby airspeed indicator and altimeter. Should these lines become blocked, such as might occur due to inadvertent icing encounter, both the standby indicators and the EFD1000 indicators will display erroneous airspeed and/or altitude information.

In the event of erroneous airspeed and altitude information at the EFD1000, the EFD1000 Attitude Monitor will present a “CROSS CHECK ATTITUDE” annunciation.”


Given this information, it would be likely that the attitude indicator was functioning normally, but the a/s and alt were erroneous. If that’s the case, in order to act properly and survive, the pilot had to know what is true information and what is false information. It’s partial panel. When was the last time an IFR student practiced (simulated) in flight partial panel with a good gyro and failed (erroneous) ASI and ALT? Covering them up is not the same as having those go bonkers.
 
??
Which comment? The Aspen or wx one?

If an AI gives up the ghost because of a lack of pitot/static that's worrisome.. to say the least. There goes the whole "pitch and power" thing we were taught if faced with pitot/static loss

The freezing rain/sleet one.. that's objective. I'm not aware of any anti/de-ice system that is approved for freezing rain

What does that have to do with pilot skills though? Something may have got lost in communication

Sounds like the pilot suddenly found himself in a corner and his equipment abandoned him

The bit about his hours being VFR in an F/A-18. I don't like comments that unfairly disparage the dead.
 
The bit about his hours being VFR in an F/A-18. I don't like comments that unfairly disparage the dead.
Ahhhh.. I get it now. D'oh! I thought you thought something about my observation on the Aspen and anti-ice equipment was me insinuating I'm a better pilot.. but I see now you were referring to the snapshot I pulled from Kathryn'sreport..

Long weekend!!
 
Just for clarity, note the accident occurred March 17, 2019. The update on Kathryn's was about the NTSB final report.
Sad story, indeed.
 
If it can happen to a guy like this....

But for the grace of God....

Condolences to the pilot and his family.
 
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